Lighting fixtures



Dec. 20, 1960 'r A. STIFFEL 2,965, 51

LIGHTING FIXTURES Filed Aug. 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 20, 1960 T.A. STIFFEL LIGHTING FIXTURES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 "Ill,"

United States Patent 2,965,751 LIGHTING FIXTURES Theophile A. Stiife],525 W. Superior St., Chicago, Ill. Filed Aug. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 680,8216 Claims. (Cl. 240-521 This invention relates to improvements inlighting fixtures and more particularly to alighting fixture adapted tobe supported between 'a floor and ceiling surface or between twosupporting surfaces; 7 p

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a lighting fixture ofthe general characterdescribe'd in my Patent No. 2,793,286 issued May21; 1957, which fixture is adapted to be supported by and betweenfloorand ceiling surfaces, wherein the lighting fixturej may'ba iee tricallyconnected, without utilizing the conventional outlet plugs usually foundon the walls of the room and without the necessity of having electricalwires extending from the lighting unit to said outlet plugs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lighting fixture whichis mounted by and between floor and ceiling surfaces, and electricallyconnected to a ceiling mounted unit thereby eliminating the use ofconventional wiring cord and electrical wall outlets and more positivelysecuring the lighting fixture against accidental displacement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pole type lightingfixture supported between two horizontal surfaces which is electricallyconnected to means supported on one of the horizontal surfaces by theinsertion and positioning of the pole fixture'and which eliminates theuse of conventional electrical connecting means.

More specifically; another object of this invention is to provide a poletype lighting unit adapted to be supported between floor and ceilingsurfaces which is electrically connected by means of a ceiling mountedunit thereby eliminating the useof conventionalcords and electrical walloutlets, and is further characterized by structure wherein said poleunit is placed in electrical connection merely by positioning sameagainst the ceiling mounted unit and wherein the ceiling mounted unitmay be rotated 360 about a fixed axis and by structure which permitssaid pole member to be positioned anywhere along the length of saidceiling mounted unit thereby permitting said pole lighting fixture to besupported in any substantially desired position within the radius andcircumference of movement of said ceiling mounted unit.

Other objects'will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings: 77

Figure 1 is a perspective view'of this invention showing the lightingfixture pole in electrical connection with the ceiling mounted unit.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the arrangement and positioning of theceiling mounted unit. H p p M Figure 3 is a view partially in crosssection of the ceiling mounted unit. 4

Figure 4 is an enlarged view partially in cross section showing portionsof the lighting fixture pole and its securement to the ceiling mountedunit. M

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the upper portion ofthelighting fixture'pole which engages the ceiling mounted unit.

2,965,751 Patented Dec. 20, 1960 Figure 6 is a plan view taken on lines6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an enlarged view partly in section of the lower portion ofthe lighting fixture pole.

Figure 8 is a schematic of the electrical circuit.

The pole is generally similar to that described in my Patent No.2,793,286 and comprises a plurality of tubular sections 10, 11 and 12telescopically joined or nested together at their ends as thereindescribed to form a singular tubular pole. The upper tubular sections 12support a tubular section or abutment member 14 and also contains aspring 13 which urges the abutment member 14 upwardly or outwardly oftubular section 12, all as described in said patent.

. As best seen in Figure 5, there is fixedly seated within the open endof the tubular abutment member 14 an insulating sleeve 16 whose upperflange 17 seats on the end of the tubular abutment 14. The bottom 18 ofthe insulating sleeve 16 has an enlarged opening 19. Secured and fixedlysupported within said insulating sleeve 16 is a metal or electricalconducting sleeve 20 having a bottom provided with an enlarged opening21. Secured to said electrical conducting sleeve 20 is a conducting wire22 which extends downwardly through the tubular abutment 14 and intotubular sections 12 and 11 and is connected at its opposite end to theswitch members generally indicated at 24 which is mounted on section 11of the pole and then through conducting wire- 26 to the momentarycontact switch generally indicated at 28 which is mounted in tubularsection 10 of the pole.

Fixedly secured within the electrical conducting sleeve 20 is aninsulating cap member generally indicated at 30 which is open at thebottom as at 31 and which has a top 32 provided with an opening 33. Thecap member 30 has a circumferential groove 34 which supports aninsulating washer 36 on which rests a coil spring 38. Slidably supportedin the cap 30 is a plunger member generally indicated at 40 having anannular body portion 41 and a finger 42 which extends through theopening 33 in the cap 30. The upper end of the spring 38 bears againstthe plunger 40 to normally retain it in the position shown in Figure 5.The plunger is made of metal or other electrical conducting material andhas secured to it a conducting wire 44, the opposite end of which isconnected to the micro switch 28.

Suitably secured as at 46 to the inside of the lower tubular section 10of the pole is the momentary contact switch 28 which has a movablemember 48 for opening and closing the switch. Pivotally secured as at 50to the switch 28 is an arm or lever 52 which is adapted to actuate themovable member 48 of the switch. The lower end of tubular section 10(Figure 7) has a bottom wall 53 provided with an opening 54 throughwhich extends the leg or rod 56 which is externally threaded as at 57and to which are secured on the opposite sides of the bottom wall 53, apair of nuts 58 and59. The nuts 58 and 59 are adjusted relative to eachother as best shown in Figure 7 to provide a certain amount of verticalfree play or movement of the leg 54 with respect to the tubular section10. The lever or arm 52 is adapted to engage the top of the leg 56 andwhen the leg is in its down position that is when the upper nut 58engages the bottom wall 53, the arm 52 will be out of engagement withthe actuating member 48 of the switch so that the switch is open,however when the leg 56 is moved upwardly as shown in Figure 7 with thelower nut 59 engaging the bottom wall 53 of tubular section 10, the leg56 will pivot the arm 52 upwardly to actuate the actuating member 48 toclose the switch 28. This arrangement permits the pole to be verticallymounted with the electrical circuit open until the leg rests on thefloor surface when the leg 56 moves up to the position shown in Figure 7to close the switch 28. The leg has a rubber foot member 60 secured tothe bottom thereof.

Secured to the tubular section 11 are a plurality of lighting fixtures62, each connected by a suitable bracket 63. Each lighting fixturecontains an electrical socket and bulb (not shown) and each is providedwith a shade element 65. The sockets are connected to the conductingwire 22, 26 and 44 contained in the pole as is Well understood and alsoto the switches 24. The lighting fixtures 62 are each mounted forpivotal movement for focusing the light in any desired direction. a

The lighting fixture pole is adapted to beelectrically connected to aceiling mounted unit, the details of which will now be described.

The ceiling mounted unit generally indicated at 70 has a pan shapedhousing 72 provided with a horizontal bracket or attaching arm 73 whichhas an opening 74 which engages the nipple 76 extending through theoutlet box 77 which is mounted on the ceiling. The outlet box and nipplebeing conventional and well understood in the art. A nut 78 secures saidattaching arm 73 to said nipple to support said ceiling mounted unit tobe rotated 360 with respect to said nipple.

Fixedly secured to the pan shaped housing 72 is a rectangular shapedhousing 80, the inner end 81 of which extends into the interior of thepan shaped housing 72 through an opening 82 in the wall of the panshaped housing 72. Supported within the rectangular shaped housing 80 asbest seen in Figure 4 is a strip of insulating material 84 which restson the bottom wall of the housing 80'. A strip of electrical conductingmaterial 86 rests on the strip of insulating material 84. Another stripof insulating material 88 rests on the strip of electrical conductingmaterial 90. These strips are all held together by some suitablefastening means. The upper strip 92 being spaced from the ceilingsurface C. Conducting strips 86 and 98 as best seen in Figure 3, areeach connected by conducting wires 93 and 94 extending from the ceilingoutlet box 77 through the nipple 76.

The bottom of the rectangular shaped housing 80 is provided with aplurality of equally spaced openings 80' along its length and insulatingstrip 84, conducting strip 86, and insulating strip 88 are each providedwith spaced openings 84', 86 and 88' respectively which are concentricwith and register with each other and with the openings 80'. It will benoted that the annular aligned openings are progressively smaller withthe largest opening 80 in the housing and the smaller openings 88' ininsulating strip 88. This accommodates the end of the abutment member ofthe pole for establishing the electrical circuit as best seen in Figure4.

The lighting fixture pole is supported vertically between ceiling andfioor or between two horizontal supporting surfaces with the upper endof the abutment portion of the pole positioned in any of openings alongthe length of the rectangular member 80 of the ceiling mounted unit.Since the upper tubular abutment member 14 is spring biased, ittelescopes into the pole structure sufficiently to allow the pole to bemanually positioned between the floor and ceiling and then when releasedwill be supported between the floor and ceiling. When thus positioned,the conducting finger 42 will make electrical contact with theconducting strip 90, the conducting sleeve 20 will make electricalcontact with conducting strip 86 and the current will pass through theconducting wires 93 and 95 and if the manual switch 24 and the switch 28are closed, the light bulbs in the lighting fixtures 62 will beilluminated. The manual switch is generally indicated at 24 and may beof any form, however a switch button is shown for separately operatingeach of the lighting fixtures 62 and a switch button is also providedfor operating all the lighting fixtures simultaneously. This may bevaried as is well understood. 7

It will be seen that ,even though the poleis inserted in the ceilingmounted unit that the circuit to the pole is open until the leg 56 restson the floor surface and moves up to close the switch 28 through lever52. This feature may be eliminated if desired and the operation of thelighting fixtures on the pole may be controlled only by a manual switch.The ceiling mounted unit 70 may be rotated 360 about its fixed axis ornipple 76 and positioned anywhere within said are and the pole may besecured thereto. The pole may be secured in any of the spaced openingsalong the length of rectangular housing 83, thus a wide range ofpositions are permitted for positioning of the pole fixture. The polemay also support an outlet socket which is placed in electricalconnection with the ceiling member so that other appliances, lamps andthe like may be connected to the pole and receive their current supply.

The foregoing structure eliminates the use of electrical wall outletsand the use of wire cord from the pole to said wall outlets. The pole isthus also more positively supported between floor and ceiling surfacesagainst accidental displacement. It will be understood that thereference to floor and ceiling surfaces includes any two spacedhorizontal surfaces, such as for example, a desk, table or the like onwhich the fixture rests may be considered a floor surface.

Various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A lightingstructure comprising an elongated ceiling fixture, aplurality of spaced sockets distributed along the length of saidfixture, a pair of electrical conductors extending along the length ofthe fixture and insulated from each other, said sockets communicatingwith said conductors, a'pole member extending between a fioor and theceiling fixture, said pole member having upper and lower portions,electrical terminals located at the upper end of said upper portion,said terminals having means engaging in a selected one of said sockets,said pole member having a lighting fixture mounted thereon and havingelectrical conducting means supported within said pole member and inelectrical contact with the terminals, means for urging the upper andlower portions of the pole member axially in opposite directions tocause the pole member to firmly engage both floor and ceiling fixture toanchor said pole member in a vertical position whereby to establishelectrical contact'between the terminals and fixture and mechanicallocking of the pole member between the fixture and the floor.

2. In a lighting fixture defined in claim 1 inwhich the ceiling fixtureis provided with pivotal means to secure the fixture to the ceilingwhereby the fixture is rotatable about said pivotal means.

3. A lighting structure comprising a ceiling fixture, a plurality ofsockets distributed along said ceiling fixture, a pair of electricalconductors on said ceiling fixture insulated from each other, saidsockets communicating with said conductors, a pole member extendingbetween a floor and the ceiling fixture said pole member having upperand lower portions with one portion in telescopic relation to the otherand depressible with respect 'to the other, electrical terminals locatedat the upper end of said upper portion, said terminals having meansengaging in a selected one of said sockets, said pole member having alighting fixture mounted thereon and having electrical conducting meanssupported within said pole and in electrical contact with the terminalsin said upper portion, spring means for normally urging said upperportion outwardly so that said pole member is anchored in a verticalposition whereby to establish electrical contact between the terminalsand fixture and mechanical locking of the pole member between thefixture and the floor.

4. A lighting fixture comprising a ceiling fixture, a plurality ofspaced sockets distributed along the length of the fixture, a pair ofconductors carried on said ceiling fixture and insulated from eachother, said sockets communicating with said conductors, a pole memberextending between a floor and the ceiling fixture said pole memberhaving upper and lower portions, electrical terminals located at theupper end of the upper portion of said pole member, said terminalsincluding a depressible finger and a stationary sleeve which engage in aselected one of said sockets, said pole member having a lighting fixturemounted thereon and having electrical conducting means supported withinsaid pole member and in electrical contact with the terminals, means forurging the upper and lower portions of the pole member axially inopposite directions to cause the pole member to firmly engage both floorand ceiling fixture to anchor said pole member in a vertical positionwhereby to establish electrical contact between the terminals andfixture and mechanical locking of the pole member between the fixtureand the floor.

5. In a lighting structure defined in claim 4 in which the pole memberhas a leg member at the lower end of the pole member and a switch membermounted within the pole member and in engagement with the leg member andadapted to be actuated to closing position by the upward movement ofsaid leg member.

6. A lighting structure comprising an elongated ceiling fixture, socketmeans along the length of said fixture, a pair of electrical conductorsextending along the length of the fixture and insulated from each other,said socket means communicating with said conductors, a pole memberextending between a floor and the ceiling fixture said pole memberhaving upper and lower portions, electrical terminals located at theupper end of the upper portion of said pole member, said terminalshaving means engaging in said socket means along the length of thefixture to position said pole member in a plurality of positions alongthe length of said fixture, said pole member having a lighting fixturemounted thereon and having electrical conducting means supported withinsaid pole and in electrical contact with the terminals, means for urgingthe upper and lower portions of the pole member axially in oppositedirections to cause the pole member to firmly engage both floor andceiling fixture to anchor said pole member in a vertical positionwhereby to establish electrical contact between the terminals andfixture and mechanical locking of the pole member between the fixtureand the floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,889,288 Patterson Nov. 29, 1932 2,107,416 Huth Feb. 8, 1938 2,743,423Parks Apr. 24, 1956 2,793,286 Stifiel May 21, 1957

